


Home Sweet Home

by Korinwae



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Hanging, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2018-03-15 15:50:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3452969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Korinwae/pseuds/Korinwae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kain's past catches up to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home Sweet Home

Krem was late. Kain frowned and looked inside the main hall, making sure he had not missed the man somehow. They had made plans to meet up for dinner, since Krem had been busy all day helping train Cullen's new recruits.  
One of the stable boys coming up behind him made him jump.  
“Excuse me ser, I was told to give this to you.” He handed a folded piece of paper to Kain before heading back to the stables. Kain looked between the boy's back and the piece of paper in confusion before unfolding and reading it.

_Greetings murderer_

_You didn't think you'd get away forever did you? Arl Gerran's family wants justice for what you did.  
We're waiting for you outside Skyhold, about a mile down the road. If you want your pretty little boyfriend to come out of this in one piece, you will come meet us alone and unarmed._

_Hirkan_

Kain's hands were shaking as his grip on the paper tightened. _Krem is in danger, because of me_. Shoving the paper into his pocket, he made his way down the stairs from the main hall, dropping his daggers along the way. Once he reached the bridge leading out of Skyhold, he started running.  
It didn't take long for him to spot several figures in the distance, one of whom was on their knees. Getting closer he realised the kneeling figure was Krem and the man next to him was gripping his shoulder in a rather painful looking way. Blood covered the left side of Krem's face and his eyes were just barely open.  
“Ah ah ah, that's close enough lover boy.” The man holding on to Krem lifted his sword and held it to the warriors throat.  
“Hirkan I presume?” Kain glared at the man.  
“You presume correctly.” Hirkan pulled the sword away from Krem and bowed with a flourish.  
“What did you do to him?!” Kain clenched his fists uselessly at his sides.  
“He was rather... reluctant to come with us, you know how things go.” He shrugged and grinned disturbingly at Kain. “Now, here's the deal. You come with us, without a fuss, and pretty boy is free to go. I'll even have one of my boys get him closer to Skyhold so he doesn't freeze to death out here.”.  
“Deal.” Kain did not hesitate, he would not let Krem come to more harm because of him.  
“Hah! Look at that boys, the power of love. Grab him.” One of the men watching from the sidelines approached Kain and pulled his arms roughly behind his back before tying his wrists together, tight enough to be very uncomfortable. “Arlo, take pretty boy here up to the bridge. Avoid being seen if you can, but try to leave him somewhere he can easily be found. Can't have him dying and making a liar out of me, can we now?” Hirkan pulled Krem to his feet and pushed him towards a hulking beast of a man, who just grunted in response to the order as he caught the warrior.  
Kain watched as they left, silently praying that Krem would be okay.  
“Time to go.” Hirkan sheathed his sword and gestured to his men, who quickly gathered to leave. The one who had tied up Kain shoved him forward.  
With one last look over his shoulder, Kain accepted his fate and followed the men to his doom.

–

Krem woke with a groan. His head felt like Bull had used it for target practice. _What happened?_ Images flashed through his mind as everything came back to him. _Kain!_ He jumped out of bed, grabbing the bedside table as the world started spinning from the sudden movement.  
The door opened and Iron Bull stepped in.  
“Hey Krem Puff, finally awake I see.” Bull had a serious look on his face as he walked over to Krem. “What happened? Where's Kain? We haven't been able to find him anywhere and all his stuff is still here.”  
“They took him. They used me against him and they took him.” Krem clenched his fist and punched the surface of the bedside table.  
Bull gave him a confused look. “'They'? Who are 'they'?”  
“I... I don't know who they are, but I remember them talking about taking him home and...” Closing his eyes, he lifted a hand and pressed it against his forehead, trying desperately to remember. His eyes flew open and he grabbed Bull's arms. “They're going to kill him! We need to go after them, NOW!” Pushing away from Bull, Krem quickly started changing in to his armour.  
“Front gate in an hour.” Bull left the room to gather the rest of the Chargers and get supplies for the hunt.  
Having finished donning his armour, Krem stood at the end of the bed, looking down at the stuffed miniature of his dragon maul that Kain had made for him. Picking it up, he smiled at the memory of Kain giving it to him. Kain had snuck up on him and bonked him on the head with it before presenting it with a laugh. The next 20 minutes had been spent chasing Kain around, trying to hit him with it in retaliation.  
His fist clenched around the stuffed toy, his smile turning into an angry scowl. _They will pay for taking you_. Dropping the toy, he turned and left the room to join Bull.

–

Kain winced as a steel booted foot kicked him hard on the leg, waking him from his uneasy sleep.  
“Get up.” The man, whose name he had learned was Forn, glared down at him. The rest of the mercenaries were packing up camp and getting ready to head out. With a grimace, Kain pushed himself off the ground and stood up. A day into the journey they had tied his wrists in front of him instead of behind his back, for convenience sake.  
Forn shoved a piece of stale bread into his hands before returning to packing up camp with the others.  
Kain had just finished eating when Hirkan shouted for everyone to head out. Once again Forn appeared near Kain and shoved him forward, despite the fact that he was already starting to move. The mercenary had repeatedly voiced his displeasure at being assigned babysitting duty, as he called it, and when he could get away with it, he'd take his frustration out on Kain with his fists.  
It was just past midday when they arrived outside the estate of the Arl's family. Hirkan walked over to Kain with a pleased smile on his face.  
“Well, here we are. Lets go say hello, shall we?” He grabbed Kain by the arm and pulled him along to the front door, which opened before he could knock. The man standing inside spared a quick glance at Hirkan before turning his attention to Kain. Before Hirkan could even open his mouth to say anything, the man pulled his left arm back and swung at Kain, sending him stumbling to the side when the punch connected with his right cheek. With a pained grunt, Kain stabilized himself against the stone railing of the doorstep.  
“You will finally pay for murdering my father, you piece of shit.” The Arl's son glared at Kain before spitting at his feet.  
Hirkan awkwardly cleared his throat. “Are we done here, Theo? One murderer delivered as per our contract.” He smiled and bowed slightly.  
The man finally turned to look at him. “Take him to the prison. One of my guards will show you the way and give you the rest of your payment once this task is complete.” Not waiting for a response, he moved back inside the house and slammed the door shut.  
Shortly after the door closed, a guard led them to the prison where Hirkan gleefully accepted a rather large chest of money before leaving with his men.  
Kain was dragged inside by one of the city guards and tossed into a cell after they removed the rope around his wrists.  
Rubbing his wrists, Kain looked around and realised there was nothing else in the cell. _No bed for the dead man, eh?_ With a sigh he sat down against the back wall of the cell and let his mind wander as he waited for his end.

–

“We're catching up. These tracks are only a few hours old.” Bull stood up from where he was kneeling by a mess of boot prints and tracks from a wagon.  
Krem was following the tracks before Bull had finished talking, followed closely by Dalish. The rest were quick to follow.  
Bull took a few long steps and was soon at Krem's side. “We'll make it Krem, they wo-”  
Krem interrupted him with an angry growl. “You don't know that chief, for all we know they...” His voice wavered slightly and he took a deep breath to steady himself. “I don't want to think about this right now.” Without looking at Bull, Krem moved ahead, his fists clenching and unclenching as his mind assaulted him with unwanted thoughts of finding Kain too late.  
With a sigh, Bull looked back over his shoulder and shouted for the rest of the Chargers to pick up the pace. _Hold on Kain, we're coming_. 

–

The cell door opened with a loud scraping sound, pulling Kain from his thoughts. Three guards stood outside. The largest of them stepped inside the cell as Kain stood up.  
“Hold your hands out in front of you.” It was strange to have someone tell him what to do rather than manhandle him into doing what they wanted, after being with the mercenaries for a week. Kain silently did as he was told and the guard tied his wrists together before leading him outside, the two other guards flanking them along the way.  
Kain blinked as they walked out into the sunlight, the brightness hurting his eyes after being in a dark cell. Once his eyes adjusted, he took in the sight before him. The sun was low on the horizon, a large crowd was gathered, and the executioner was standing on the gallows, arms folded across his chest.  
The large guard nudged him into moving towards the gallows and soon he found himself standing upon it, noose hanging in front of his face. Theo had followed him up and was now giving a speech to the crowd. Kain, however, wasn't listening as he had found a familiar face in the crowd. His older sister was staring at him, a pleased smile on her face at the sight of him waiting to die. When she realised he was looking at her, her smile quickly turned into a malicious grin. The noose being placed around his neck pulled his eyes away from her. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head high and watched as the sun started setting, colours slowly spreading in the sky.  
“I hope your death is agonizingly slow, murderer.” Theo hissed in his ear before moving to the side of the gallows.  
A loud shout from across the plaza pulled everyone's attention. _I know that voice..._ Kain turned his head and he felt hope blossom in his chest. _Krem!_ He started lifting his hands to the noose, hoping to make a run for it before anyone could catch him, but before his hands even touched the rope, Theo was shouting.  
“PULL THE LEVER, NOW!” The executioner was quick to follow the order and Kain found himself falling as the wood below disappeared. The rope stopped his descent with a painful tug and he started desperately clawing at it as he struggled to breathe.  
“ _KAIN!_ ” Krem's panicked scream drowned out the sounds of fighting that had erupted around the plaza, making Kain's chest hurt. _I never wanted you to see me die..._ A moment later, Kain found himself hitting the ground as the rope was cut by one of Dalish's ice spears. Coughing and gasping, Kain pulled the noose from his neck, silently thanking any deity that was listening for his luck.  
“KILL HIM! KILL HIM FOR FUCKS SAKE!” A guard hunched down to get under the gallows to follow the order when a familiar, large maul slammed into him.  
“Don't you fucking touch him, you son of a bitch.” Krem growled at the guard where he lay sprawled out on the ground before he ducked under the wooden platform and fell to his knees next to Kain. He pulled a small knife from his belt and cut the ropes binding Kain's wrists together, before roughly pulling him up from the ground and embracing him tightly.  
“How precious, the murderer has himself a pretty little boyfriend.” They pulled apart slightly and looked up to find Theo glaring down at them through the open hatch, a crossbow in hand. “I will make you pay for what you did Kain, one way or another.” Lifting the crossbow, he aimed it at Krem but before he could fire the bolt, a large axe cleaved him in two.  
“You two good down there?” Bull, covered in blood, peered down from above with a grin on his face.  
Krem pulled Kain back into his embrace. “Yeah, we're good chief.”  
Bull laughed as he stood up straight and hefted his axe up to rest across his shoulder. “Well, when you two love birds are done, the fights over.” He turned and looked at the plaza. The civilians had all run off to hide when the fighting had began, so it was pretty empty now, just a handful of dead guards laying about. The rest of the guards had surrendered once they realised they were outmatched, Skinner and Grim were watching them for now.  
Krem and Kain finally emerged from under the gallows after a few minutes. Dalish came running over to them to check on Kain's throat. She did her best to undo some of the damage the noose had done, with the limited healing magic she had.  
“T-thank you.” Kain's voice was low and rough. “All of you.” He pulled both Krem and Dalish into an embrace as Bull laughed.  
“You're a Charger, of course we'd come for you.” Bull placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze before turning and walking off to give them some privacy. Dalish smiled at the two of them before wiggling out of the hug and following Bull.  
Krem turned to Kain, eyes falling on the angry red mark around his throat. At the thought of how close he had come to losing him, a stab of pain went through his chest. “I almost lost you.” His voice was just barely above a whisper.  
Kain pulled Krem closer and captured his lips in a tender kiss that soon turned deep and passionate as they were both overwhelmed by the relief of seeing each other again. When they finally pulled apart, they were both gasping for breath.  
“Hey.” Krem pulled Kain's head down so their foreheads were touching. “Let's get out of here.” The smile that spread on Kain's face warmed his heart and he couldn't help but grin widely at the sight.  
Pulling apart only to stand next to each other, they linked their hands together between them before walking over to where the rest of the Chargers were waiting, all of them grinning widely as they let Kain know they were glad he was okay.  
As they all turned to leave, Kain did not once look back, instead he let his eyes roam over the ragtag crew before him. _This... this is my home_. Squeezing Krem's hand, he felt more at peace than he had in his entire life.


End file.
